How to calculate the beats per minute of any song

Calculating the beat of a song seems like a daunting task. But mathematically it is very simple.

Now, how accurately you calculate beats per minute is another story.

3 different ways to calculate beats per minute

1. You can calculate BPM manually by counting the beats over the course of one minute.

2. You can calculate BPM with a BPM counter from any music store.

3. You can also calculate BPM using a program called Aqua Gnome.

How to calculate BPM manually in a 4-step process:

Step 1

You need the following materials:

• Watch with a second hand or stopwatch.
• Writing utensil
• Paper

Step 2

The first step is to select your favorite song to play.

That was easy!

Now play your song from the beginning. The best time to start counting the beats is from the beginning of the verse when the kick comes in.

For example, the song “Who Got The Props” by Black Moon begins with just the sample playing and then when the verse comes, the drums do too. It is from that point where we count the beats.

To hear a free sample of this Black Moon tune, go to Amazon.com.

Then scroll down the track list to where it says Play Samples and then click the Play link next to the track you want.

In fact, it’s a great free resource for any emerging DJ. Anytime you want to see a tune, you can go to Amazon.com and search for it, and if they have it, you can listen to a sample for free.

You can get great song-building tips and techniques and also review records before spending your hard-earned money.

Step 3

The next step is to start the counting process. Most songs have four beats per measure.

For example, if you were using the song mentioned above to count the beats, you could count 1, 2, 3, 4.

When you have counted the beats 1, 2, 3, 4. That would be equal to one measure. At that point, you would draw a line on a piece of paper that indicates a bar.

I like to make points to indicate times and a line to indicate bars. You would count again 1, 2, 3, 4 and make another line on your paper. Continue this process for 30 seconds.

Step 4.

The last step is to calculate how many beats we get in 30 seconds. You do this using a little math.

Multiply the total number of BARS by four. Remember, there are four beats per measure. That is why we use the number four. It will look like this.

Once you’ve calculated how many beats you get in 30 seconds, you will simply multiply that total by 2 or add that total twice. It will look like this.

And this is how you calculate your beats per minute for any song.